Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The reappointment of Mishaal may make sense in terms of Hamas' current power dynamics. But it does absolutely nothing to help the Palestinian people or cause.

Hussein Ibish: "....Mishaal’s ambitions may not stop with leading Hamas. He seems, in the long run, to have his eyes set on eventual leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization. As long as Hamas retains its current policies, and he remains a leader of that group, this is not possible without destroying the diplomatic and political achievements of the PLO, and its international standing. But one can certainly sense him trying to fudge those issues and maneuver his way into a more centralized national leadership role.

But it's important not to underestimate the harm this could cause to the Palestinian national movement. Hamas' policies are strictly inconsistent with those of the PLO, and contradict its treaty obligations. If Hamas joined the PLO with its current policies unchanged, let alone usurped it, the international standing of the PLO – one of the most important achievements of the Palestinian national movement, the value of which no one really questions – would be placed in dire jeopardy.


Palestinians want and need national unity. But the terms are crucial. If such unity in effect means abandoning the positions that underscore the PLO's standing at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions, and diplomatic relations with well over 100 countries, the price will be exorbitant and disproportionate.


Hamas, led by Mishaal or anybody else, cannot maintain its present policies – towards Israel, the two-state solution, violence, and other key questions that are clearly defined by international law – and simultaneously serve as part of the Palestinian national leadership. The cost of unity on those terms is prohibitive, and Palestinians just cannot afford it.


Meanwhile, in Gaza, Hamas continues to rule in the Islamist manner. That means that most of its policies are not only socially reactionary and oppressive, but flagrantly misogynistic as well. The latest outrage is a new law that will enforce gender segregation in schools for children over the age of nine, and bar men from teaching in girls' schools. This is merely the latest instance of Hamas' dual-gesture of pandering to its Islamist base and trying to impose its socially reactionary 'values' on the beleaguered Palestinians living under their rule.


So the reappointment of Mishaal may make sense in terms of Hamas' current power dynamics. But it does absolutely nothing to help the Palestinian people or cause."

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/hamas-again-avoids-change 


 

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